And no, we are not talking about a nut or the football player Ronaldo here.

So what exactly is a Brazilian if it's not a native of that South American country?

Look away now if you are of a sensitive disposition.

A Brazilian wax is an extreme form of pubic hair removal that strips most, if not all of the hair from the genital region. It differs from a more traditional Bikini Wax, which only trims the pubic hairs to just inside the regular bikini line, so that there's no danger of hairy nightmares at the beach!

The first thing to say is that this is not a new fad, propagated by bikini-clad model types. The practice of removing all extraneous body hair actually dates back 3,000 to 5,000 years to Egyptian times.

No, the girl from Ipanema came way, way after.

The ancient 'wax' was believed to be an all-natural sugar-based paste, which was mixed with lemon for its anti-bacterial properties. The process was known as 'smoothing', which often consisted of a mix of different practices, including waxing, shaving and plucking.

Ceremonies such as pre-wedding traditions and other religious festivals featured this practice widely throughout Middle Eastern cultures and part of ancient Europe as well. Slave girls and harems also widely followed the smoothing practices as did cultures with hot, humid climates, particularly close to the equator.

So though the names used for the waxing styles have changed over the millennia, the process remains largely the same.

And just what is a Brazilian wax called in Brazil? Well, the term Brazilian Wax doesn't exist, as it just doesn't make sense. In Brazil this style of waxing is simply called depillar (meaning to pluck hairs or to wax).

However in the Western world officially the style is named because of the skimpy dental-floss like bikinis worn on Brazilian beaches.

Regardless of the names, this ancient practice is more popular than every today and there's no question that women everywhere are jumping on the Brazilian bandwagon, and loving the results!